Quality standard
Quality statement 7: Upper gastrointestinal (GI) contrast study
Quality statement 7: Upper gastrointestinal (GI) contrast study
Quality statement
Infants, children and young people do not have an upper gastrointestinal (GI) contrast study to diagnose or assess the severity of gastro‑oesophageal reflux disease (GORD).
Rationale
Upper GI contrast studies are neither sensitive nor specific enough to diagnose or assess the severity of GORD, and they unnecessarily expose infants, children and young people to radiation.
Quality measures
The following measures can be used to assess the quality of care or service provision specified in the statement. They are examples of how the statement can be measured, and can be adapted and used flexibly.
Structure
Evidence of local arrangements to ensure that upper GI contrast studies are not used to diagnose or assess the severity of GORD in infants, children and young people.
Data source: Local data collection.
Process
Proportion of infants, children and young people referred for upper GI contrast study to diagnose or assess the severity of GORD.
Numerator – number in the denominator referred to diagnose or assess the severity of GORD.
Denominator – number of infants, children and young people referred for upper GI contrast study.
Data source: Local data collection.
What the quality statement means for different audiences
Service providers (secondary care providers) ensure that there are practice arrangements to ensure that upper GI contrast studies are not carried out to diagnose or assess the severity of GORD in infants, children and young people.
Healthcare professionals (midwives, paediatric nurses or GPs) do not refer infants, children and young people for upper GI contrast studies to diagnose or assess the severity of GORD.
Commissioners (clinical commissioning groups) ensure that services they commission have protocols that do not allow healthcare professionals to carry out upper GI contrast studies to diagnose or assess the severity of GORD in infants, children and young people.
Infants, children and young people do not have a type of scan called an upper gastrointestinal contrast study to assess how serious their reflux is.
Source guidance
Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease in children and young people. NICE guideline NG1 (2015, updated 2019), recommendation 1.1.15 (key priority for implementation)